NEWS
Jun 14, 2013 - FOREIGN POLICY
President Obama has named Susan Rice his national security adviser to replace the departing Tom Donilon, and nominated Samantha Power to succeed Rice as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. How might the two longtime loyal advisers influence the president's foreign policy? Joe Barnes, the institute's Bonner Means Baker Fellow and a career U.S. Department of State diplomat, weighs in on the Baker Institute Blog.
Jun 14, 2013 - TEXAS POLITICS
With Comptroller Susan Combs’ recent announcement that she will not run for re-election, "the Texas Republican Party faces the undesirable prospect of having its slate of candidates for statewide executive offices being entirely male in 2014," writes political science fellow Mark P. Jones in the Baker Institute Blog. "It stands to reason that the presence of an entirely male executive branch during the 2015-19 period would be detrimental to the Texas Republican Party’s broader image and long-term goals of retaining its majority status in Texas."
At present, only one Republican woman is actively seeking a statewide executive office (comptroller). The race for attorney general offers the most likely scenario for a Texas Republican woman being on the statewide slate, but it remains to be seen if any of the highly qualified women who could fill the spot "are willing to consider running, and if so, under what conditions," says Jones.
"Absent some proactive behavior by Republican elites during the remainder of 2013, come January 2015, Texas is very likely to find itself with an executive branch devoid of women."
Read "An all male GOP statewide slate in 2014?" in the Baker Institute Blog.
Jun 14, 2013 - HURRICANE SEASON 2013
If you lived in Houston in 2005, you remember the thousands of cars choking every lane of every freeway out of town as Hurricane Rita approached. Since then, the population of Harris County has grown significantly, but our roadways have not, writes urban politics fellow Robert Stein in a recent Baker Institute blog. "As we enter hurricane season 2013, our capacity to handle the similar or greater numbers that evacuated before Hurricane Rita in 2005 is diminished." Read how to avoid the gridlock in "Why you should prepare early for Hurricane Season 2013."
Jun 10, 2013 - Is the military the answer to Mexico's drug wars?
On the campaign trail and in his first six months in office, Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto de-emphasized the military’s role in the drug war by promoting a new strategy that focuses on prevention and the root causes of crime. However, in May, Peña Nieto had to send troops to the state of Michoacán to quell the violence between cartels and vigilantes taking up arms to defend their villages. Peña Nieto — like his predecessor, Felipe Calderón — now seems poised to again put Mexico's military front and center in the fight against organized crime. Read the series:
In a five-part Baker Institute Viewpoints series, institute experts and guest authors evaluate a fundamental question for all democratic societies facing organized crime threats: Is the deployment of troops in a domestic conflict with organized crime an appropriate use of combat forces?
Jun 05, 2013 - NEW MISERY IN ALEPPO
A parasitic skin disease that causes disfiguring facial sores and boils is quickly spreading in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo, with children disproportionately affected. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) has been a health threat for hundreds of years in Aleppo, where it is known as the “Aleppo evil,” “Aleppo ulcer,” or “Aleppo boil," writes disease and poverty fellow Peter J. Hotez in the PLOS Blog. "It should come as no surprise that this disease would re-emerge with a vengeance as a result of a horrific civil war" and a breakdown in infrastructure and public health control measures.
While there are few, if any, official public health accounts of CL, news reports indicate the number of cases in Aleppo and surrounding areas could range "into the thousands or possibly even the hundreds of thousands," Hotez says.
In times of peace, the spread of CL — which is transmitted by sand flies — can be controlled through sanitation, insecticidal spraying, and increased use of insecticide-treated nets. Unfortunately, the ongoing hostilities in Syria portend continued public health inaction, Hotez writes. "Perhaps at a minimum the international community for now needs to focus on refugees and refugee encampments to ensure local control and patient access to treatments."
Read “'Aleppo Evil': The Ulcer, the Boil, the Sandfly, and the Conflict" in the June 5, 2013, edition of the PLOS Blog.
Jun 05, 2013 - IMMIGRATION
The passage of federal immigration reforms is a crucial first step in stemming the Republican Party's declining support among Hispanics and improving its image among this increasingly pivotal group, writes Baker Institute fellow Mark Jones in Zócalo Public Square, a nonprofit project of Arizona State University and the New America Foundation. "If Congress does not pass immigration reform, we should expect Hispanic turnout in Texas to rise, as Democrats use the reform’s failure to register and mobilize Hispanic voters, and to see the share of the Hispanic vote won by GOP candidates decline." Read "A Republican Stronghold at a Crossroads" in the June 5, 2013, edition of Zócalo Public Square.
Jun 04, 2013 - CLIMATE CHANGE
Global climate change fellow Ron Sass recently penned an op-ed in response to statements about climate change made by Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, the new chair of the House Science and Technology Committee. In a joint subcommittee hearing examining the science and environmental issues of the proposed Keystone pipeline, testimony "clearly misrepresented the accepted science of climate change but lent support to the proposed pipeline," Sass wrote. "Smith has made it all too clear that he favors the Keystone XL pipeline and I grant him the right to pull together whatever he needs to promote his point of view. But, because he is a public servant, I must admonish him to open his mind to all legitimate facts."
Jun 04, 2013 - James Zogby: Iran's decline in the Arab world
In just six years, Iran has experienced a precipitous decline in
popularity among Arabs and Muslims. How can this downturn be explained,
and what lessons should American policymakers take from it? Arab American Institute President James
Zogby recently discussed these questions at the Baker Institute, citing a study in his new book, “Looking at Iran: Iran’s
Rise and Fall in Public Opinion.” Watch video of Zogby's May 30, 2013, presentation, above.
Based on polling in 20 Arab and Muslim countries, Zogby’s study reveals
how Iran’s involvement in Iraq, Bahrain and Syria played a role in
alienating Arab public opinion. The study also shows how Iran’s nuclear
program is now opposed by the public in almost every country surveyed
and how the Obama administration’s lower profile in the Middle East has
actually improved U.S. standing in Arab public opinion.
The Arab American Institute is a Washington, D.C.-based organization
that serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab
American community. Zogby Research Services conducts public opinion
polling and analyzes data.
May 21, 2013 - Has the war on drugs undermined civil liberties?
Legal scholars, activists, academics and law enforcement have all questioned the impact of the drug war on U.S. civil liberties. Are our privacy rights and the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, for instance, fully protected when the government complies with the law in the investigation, prosecution and punishment for possession of marijuana? In a four-part Baker Institute Viewpoints series, we ask: Has the war on drugs undermined civil liberties? May 17, 2013 — "How the war on drugs has infringed on U.S. civil liberties" May 20, 2013 — "Restoring civil liberties through sensible marijuana policies" May 21, 2013 — "Civil liberties erode when drug use widens"
May 21, 2013 - Tony Blair on effective governance in Africa
Africa has made real economic progress in recent years — so much so that governance, not aid, is now the challenge, said former prime minister Tony Blair at a May 21 address at the Baker Institute. “What is going to make a real difference is the ability of governments in developing countries to get things done,” he said. To support Africa’s efforts to effectively govern, Blair in 2008 founded the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI), which currently works in seven African nations. AGI teams work shoulder-to-shoulder with the nations’ presidents and local residents "to help the governments prioritize, get the right policy, and get the right personnel in the right places," Blair said. The organization's work in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea, Malawi and South Sudan focuses on three main areas: electricity, infrastructure and quality private sector investment. Everything is possible with electricity, but very little can be done without it, Blair noted. Infrastructure is crucial because although Africa has great agricultural potential, the food is wasted — roads leading to ports and markets don’t exist. Quality private investment is needed in an environment where private funding can randomly arrive from sometimes dubious sources. “If you get these three things right, everything else is manageable," Blair said. AGI’s work in Africa is not just a solid moral cause, he added. “It’s also an act of enlightened self-interest.” “I don’t know what will happen to the continent of Africa over the next [several decades], but I do know the population will double. Whether the countries are on their feet with functioning economies is not going to be an issue simply for them, but an issue for us also." Blair's address was part of the Shell Distinguished Lecture Series, a Baker Institute speakers program that reflects the vision of our honorary chair, James A. Baker, III, and Shell’s commitment to defining the role of statesmanship, integrity and bold leadership in meeting the challenges of the 21st century.
May 21, 2013 - International Space Medicine Summit 2013
We may dream of another manned mission to the moon, or even a landing on Mars, but much more research is needed to prevent or mitigate the medical, psychological and biomedical challenges of such long-range travel. For the past seven years, the International Space Medicine Summit (ISMS), hosted by the Baker Institute and Baylor College of Medicine, has brought together the world's leading experts to discuss the research as well as ways to change policies that hinder international collaboration in space. This year, NASA administrator Charles F. Bolden joined Baker Institute honorary chair James A. Baker, III, as well as space biomedical scientists, engineers, astronauts, cosmonauts and educators for the May 16-19 conference at the Baker Institute. In a keynote address, Baker spoke of the need for international cooperation in an increasingly globalized landscape. "As we head into the future, I think that we need to build on the kinds of international relationships that have the potential for international cooperation," he said. "Developing cooperative efforts for further space exploration will allow us to save on the cost of space exploration, just as it will allow other countries to save as well. It can allow us to free our imaginations and harness our ingenuity to do bigger and better things. Then perhaps we can all explore the universe together, far beyond Earth's orbit and far beyond the moon." Watch video of Baker's address above. Additional presentations and discussions at ISMS 2013 are available here. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the complete list.
May 17, 2013 - DRUG SENTENCING
In an article for Texas Monthly, drug policy fellow William Martin describes how a Republican judge from Harris County, with the support of the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation and the left-leaning Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, is working with Democratic lawmakers to reduce the sentences for defendants arrested with trace amounts of illegal drugs. But, Martin writes, it takes more than bipartisanship to change people's views on the state's drug laws. Read "The policy and politics of drug sentencing" in the May 6, 2013, Texas Monthly.
May 17, 2013 - THE G20'S SECRET SHAME
Many think that neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are exclusive to destabilized countries
such as South Sudan, Somalia or Haiti, but recent analysis shows that most of the world’s NTDs paradoxically
occur in major G20 countries. As the G20 leaders prepare to meet in Russia this fall, Baker Institute fellow in disease and poverty Peter Hotez urges them to put this issue on their agenda and "aggressively implement programs of treatment and prevention." Such efforts are not expensive and in most cases so cheap
that they would not require overseas development assistance, Hotez writes in a May 17 Global Post commentary. "For
example, elephantiasis, hookworm infection, and food-borne trematode
infections — mostly occurring in G20 countries — could be treated
through mass drug administration using a packet of pills mostly donated
by Pharma and costing less than 50 cents per person to administer
annually," he says. Hotez believes these low-cost treatments are not widely implemented because "NTDs only affect the profoundly poor —
marginalized people with no voice and largely hidden from view." If G20 countries take ownership of the problem, "I estimate that the world could see a reduction in up to three-quarters of the world’s most fearsome NTDs."
May 15, 2013 - PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES OF TEXAS
Texas is now the the only state to have three presidential libraries.
The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Southern Methodist University opened its doors to the public on May 1. The other two centers are the George Bush Presidential Library and
Museum at Texas A&M University in College Station and the LBJ
Presidential Library at the University of Texas in Austin. But what is a presidential library and what purpose does it serve? On May 14, the directors of the three presidential
libraries in Texas met at the Baker Institute to discuss the role
of their institutions and the presidents they represent. The discussion was moderated by Baker
Institute founding director Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian. The forum was the first of a three-part, multi-city series "Lone Star
Treasures: The Presidential Libraries of Texas," sponsored by the Texas
Tribune, in which the directors will discuss how presidential libraries
preserve history, facilitate research and education, and contribute to
their communities through public programs and special events. Watch a video of the Baker Institute event above.
May 14, 2013 - SCHOLARLY POV
May 13, 2013 - TAX REFORM: A WAY FORWARD
Earlier this year, the Baker Institute published a set of policy recommendations that aim to provide guidance to President Obama on a range of significant public policy issues, from energy to tax reform. Within each issue area, institute fellows and scholars offer an analytic overview of opportunities, challenges and possible solutions. We are highlighting each of the essays in a series of posts in this space. This week, John Diamond, Edward A. and Hermena Hancock Kelly Fellow in Public Finance, and George Zodrow, Baker Institute Rice scholar and Allyn R. and Gladys M. Cline Chair of Economics at Rice University, present an outline for fundamental reform of both the individual and corporate income tax systems. In order to help solve the nation's looming fiscal problems and to prevent an economic recession in the near term, they recommend specific criteria for fundamental tax reform packages, including revenue neutrality, economic efficiency and a favorable environment for foreign investment. 
"Moving Forward With Tax Reform."
May 07, 2013 - STUDENT POV
Five years ago, Rice sophomore and Baker Institute intern Shannon McNamara started SHARE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering girls in Africa through education. Since then, she has traveled to Tanzania every summer, having raised funds during the school year to create reading programs for girls, build libraries in schools, provide schools with electricity, and give deserving girls scholarships to secondary school. The program has now donated more than 33,000 books to students in three African countries. Recently, Forbes magazine interviewed McNamara about SHARE for a series called “The Fixer,” which highlights problems being solved by a new generation of women. The program has been recognized by the Obama administration, which in 2011 invited McNamara to deliver an address at the White House for an International Woman’s Day 100th anniversary celebration hosted by Michelle Obama.
Shannon has also received the Daily Point of Light Award, a program established by President George H.W. Bush, and blogged about her experiences in Tanzania for a White House website called “Winning the Future: President Obama and Young Americans.” McNamara, now 19, is a Lovett College resident from New Jersey.
May 06, 2013 - SYRIA AT THE CROSSROADS
There is growing concern in the United States that if the bloody struggle for power in Syria continues unabated, the sectarian-ethnic polarizations of the country will deepen, prospects for political solution will recede and radical groups such as al-Nusra Front will gain ascendancy. Syria, “could become fragmented along confessional and religious line” said Baker Institute founding director Ambassador Edward Djerejian in a recent interview with Al Arabiya.
May 01, 2013 - SYRIA'S CHEMICAL WEAPONS
In a recent blog for The Majalla, Middle East scholar Andrew Bowen and research associate Dina Shahrokhi discuss President Obama's options following reports the Syrian regime may have used chemical weapons against its own people. Possibilities include arming vetted members of the FSA, enforcing a no-fly zone to neutralize the regime's air force, securing and destroying Syria's stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and, working closely with Russia, taking further action to foster a political solution to the conflict. "Obama’s response will have the strongest impact if his actions can support efforts to bring President Assad and his opponents to the table for negotiations," Bowen and Shahrokhi write. Read "Going Over the Red Line" in the May 1, 2013, edition of The Majalla.
Apr 30, 2013 - GLOBAL ECONOMIC MARKETS
Earlier this year, the Baker Institute published a set of policy recommendations that aim to provide guidance to President Obama on a range of significant public policy issues, from energy to tax reform. Within each issue area, institute fellows and scholars offer an analytic overview of opportunities, challenges and possible solutions. "Fostering a cooperative relationship with these rising powers during the
next four years will pay dividends for the governance of the
international financial system for years to come," he writes. Read more in
We will be highlighting each of the essays in a series of posts in this space. This week Russell Green, Will Clayton Fellow in International Economics, considers a productive
strategy for the U.S. in light of international financial markets that will remain at the mercy of
developments in the Eurozone crisis for at least 2013. Green suggests shoring up
defenses against a major crisis, while focusing on longer-term
developments, "namely the rise of emerging market economies as the
dominant sources of global growth over the next several decades.""U.S. Economic Diplomacy: Adapting to Shifts in Global Economic Powers."
